Pig Island 2012 Recap

On Saturday, September 1st, Governor’s Island went whole hog and transformed into Pig Island for the day. 25 NYC chefs, locally sourced pigs, plus NY state beers, cider and wine were at our disposal for a day of food, fun and sun.

Our first stop was to Talde and Pork Slope. I had a feeling this was going to be a popular booth, and I wanted a taste of Pork Slope’s offerings. Chef Talde was manning the grill, cooking up juicy pork sliders with yellow mustard.

Sliding right down the line to Fort Reno and Palo Santo, both run by Chef Jacques Gautier. Fort Reno served up pulled pork with slaw and a homemade habanero mustard. On the flip side, at Palo Santo, Chef was frying up some of the best tortillas I have had with succulent pork, pico de gallo and an array of pickled jalapenos, chilis and hot sauces.

The award winning team at Waterfront Ale House, brought out their smoker for the event. Their hog smoked for over 20 hours and the results showed. Making sure to use every part, Waterfront presented us with headcheese on dark rye and pork sliders. The pork was so tender that we could see the juices dripping down while waiting on line.

Raven and Boar farm from Chatham, MA came out with a beautiful set up of heirloom vegetables and pork for sale. They had the most beautiful pork chops available with at least an inch of fat along the rim. They were singing my song and I regret forgetting to run back to buy some to take home.

I loved the steamed shredded pork buns that Delicatessen brought out. A mixture of hot sauce and sweet chili plum sauce topped the pork with cracklin’ and a dab of cilantro. It was a refreshing change and one of my favorites of the day.

While Delicatessen was a favorite, what tied for the number one spot was the dish from Bobolink Dairy & Bakehouse. They outright won for crispiest pork skin, and the salad paired with the hog was just what I needed to cut all the fat and heavy dishes tasted through. Sometimes seeing a little green at a pig tasting event is what you need.

Speaking of green, that is what Edi and the Wolf did with perfectly grilled, tender pork belly. The compliment of the vinegar on the salad, cut the fattiness of the pork belly, making it, in my opinion one of the best dishes of the day. Of course I’m a bit biased as pork belly is my favorite cut.

Like any good porcine event, we have great pork related shirts. I happen to like this one the best. Finally, I leave you with some of the chefs cooking up a storm during Pig Island.